Fourteen Valentines
by cable69
Summary: -Written on the scrap of paper were the words, I love you. Nyota stared. What on Earth?- A St. Valentine's Day mystery. General slash.


**Fourteen Valentines**

x

_February 1st_

Written on the scrap of paper were the words, "I love you."

Nyota stared.

She stood outside of her quarters on the _Enterprise_, dressed and ready for duty, her high black boots gleaming in the low light of the humming ship corridors. It was 0750 on February first and she was supposed to be on the bridge by 0800. When she had turned to the control panel outside her room to make sure her 'bot was programmed to do its weekly sonic cleansing of her quarters, she had seen a bit of paper tucked underneath the console's silver body. She'd pulled it out and unfolded it and there the message was, in a straight-edged hand with unwavering letters, writ the blackest of inks on the creamiest of parchments. _I love you_.

What on Earth? Nyota thought dazedly. She heard boots tramping behind her and hastily tucked the paper into her skirt pocket.

"Hey, Nyota!" said Gaila, debonair, rounding the bend with Pavel in tow. Her coiled red hair bounced blithely, and as Nyota took in her outfit, she wondered how Gaila could look so buxom and attractive in a boring Starfleet uniform. Pavel, still mussed from sleep, stumbled after her, rubbing his thatch of gold-brown curls out of his blue, blue eyes. He perked when he saw Nyota, though.

"Good morning!" he said, doing his best charming eyelash flutter. Nyota was immediately suspicious. Had Pavel left the paper there? Did he like her? What was going on?

"Good morning," she said back, without much enthusiasm, and fell in step between the two of them, closer to Gaila, since she was wary of Pavel. "Any word on what we're doing today?"

"Beaming down, getting beaten up by natives, beating the natives up, beaming back," said Gaila cheerily. Nyota glared at her. She had no idea how any person could be so perky so early in the morning. Gaila just winked at her, eyes sparkling. Pavel grimaced.

When she got to the bridge, Nyota stared around suspiciously at everybody else. Spock was already at his post, harassing the beta shift science officer about some tiny piece of science she had done wrong. Hikaru and McKenna were going over the day's course, and even Scotty was up early, hovering to the right of the captain's chair and romancing one of the off-shift weapons experts, a food hobbyist famed for his skill at sandwich-making.

Bones stormed onto the bridge ahead of Jim, whom he was evidently fighting with. Spock, following them, separated them gently, sparing a few characteristically sharp words for Bones, who bitched right back at him.

"They should just make out," said Hikaru from behind her.

"Which ones?" Nyota asked.

Hikaru shrugged. "All of 'em."

Nyota laughed.

For the first hour of duty, Nyota wondered who could have left the note. Pavel was her main suspect. She wouldn't put it past Spock, though: he had a romantic streak an inch wide, but a mile deep. Or perhaps it was Janice Rand, who flirted almost as badly and copiously as Jim.

During the second hour she had to translate a communiqué from Starfleet into Standard from Code ZedPM, and forgot that she had gotten the note at all.

x

_February 2nd_

Nyota found the next note taped to the bottom of her breakfast tray. It said, "S' agapo."

"What's that?" Gaila asked over her shoulder.

Nyota nearly dropped her tray in surprise. She was in the cafeteria at 0730, thankful that her shift didn't start until 0900 and interested in having some pancakes and eggs, for once. She whipped around to face Gaila, who was staring innocently at her. "What?" Gaila said, sounding a little alarmed. "I was just wondering what that paper was."

"I don't know," Nyota lied, moving off towards a table. "Where's Pavel? Have you seen him today?"

Gaila, following closely, blinked at her. "No?" she said slowly. "Although Hikaru was back there, with Janice—"

"Where?" hissed Nyota, whipping around. Gaila pointed Hikaru and Janice out. They were hovering near the trays, clearly conspiring. As Nyota watched, Hikaru shot a look at Nyota and then pretended he hadn't. Deeply suspicious.

At the table, Nyota retrieved the note and translated it. "S' agapo" was the Greek for "I love you," of course.

x

_February 3rd_

This time Nyota didn't get the message until her second shift, which started at 1300, well into the day. She sat down at her console, put her microphone in her ear, reached up to adjust it, and realized that the arm of her microphone was wrapped in paper.

"Wo ai ni," said the note, after she had untaped it from her earpiece and rolled it out.

"Lieutenant," purred a voice behind her. Nyota rolled her eyes and put the paper down slowly.

"Yes, Captain?" she said patiently. Jim came over to lean on her console.

"Could you patch me through to Rigel V?" Jim asked, smiling charmingly down at her. His shirt was thin over his muscular arms, and Nyota glared horribly at those damnably muscles. "And what's that?" Jim added guilelessly, nodding to the paper.

Nyota was tired of hiding the notes, and maybe Jim's reaction would give her something to work with. "A love note, sir," she said, handing it to him.

"Huh," said Jim, holding the paper close to his eyes. "This is good parchment. You can tell it's been cut from a larger piece. See the edge of the watermark?" Jim put the paper up to light, and Nyota saw a faint piece of a circle's shadow below the phrase. "Who do you think this is from? Sulu? He's Japanese, though."

Nyota was impressed that Jim knew "wo ai ni" was the Chinese for "I love you." "Whoever left it for me is not Chinese," said Nyota. Then she backtracked. "Well, they might be. But I've gotten two others—one in English, the other in Greek."

"Huh," said Jim, giving the paper one last look and setting it down next to Nyota's hand. "Let me know how the search for your true love goes, will you? And do you have that line to Rigel V yet?"

"Ready and waiting, sir," said Nyota, handing Jim an earpiece. He fitted it in and slid back to his chair, winking at her.

I hadn't even considered Jim, thought Nyota.

x

_February 4th_

Nyota stormed into Gaila's room at 0745.

"This one was in my _boot_," Nyota hissed to Gaila, waving the scrap of paper that said "Ndinokuda" on it in front of her friend's green face. "Attached to a rock! So I would feel it!"

"Are your boots okay?" said Gaila worriedly, bending down to stare at Nyota's patent leather Christian Louboutin's_._

"Yes, they're fine," said Nyota impatiently. "I'm talking about the note! Look! This one's in Shona."

"What a pretty name for a language," said Gaila, staring at the paper Nyota had thrown at her. "How do you pronounce this?"

Nyota ignored her. "I think it might be Jim. Or Pavel. Or Janice. Or Hikaru. Or, now, Dr. M'Benga."

"Oh my god, what?" said Gaila incredulously. "All of those are insane. Pavel and Hikaru are madly in love. Jim's sleeping with Spock. M'Benga is Malian, and Mali's not even near Zimbabwe. And Janice… well, okay, it could be her. But you're so out of her league."

"What? Since when is Spock sleeping with Jim? Spock _hates_ Jim. And don't be so mean to Janice."

"Well, deny it," said Gaila apologetically.

Nyota couldn't. "_Anyway_. Who do you think it is?"

"Of the options you posited?"

"Do you have anybody else to add?"

Gaila considered. "Not really."

"Okay, yes, of who I said."

"Um…" Gaila put on a pained thinking face. "I'm really not sure?"

Nyota sighed at her. "Thanks for trying."

"Anytime!"

x

_February 5th_

Pavel kept watching her.

It was starting to freak Nyota out. She didn't like Pavel. Well, okay, she did like Pavel. But not like _that_. Not like that at _all_. Her thing with Pavel was that he was her friend. They were friends. _Friends_.

Occasionally, on the bridge, she'd catch Pavel staring at her and want to yell that to the whole room.

It didn't help that another note appeared on her armrest after she'd gone to the restroom at around 1100. It said, "Rwy'n dy garu di," or, in Welsh, "I love you."

x

_February 6th_

"Pavel's _following me around_," Nyota hissed to Gaila, having dragged Gaila out of the server room Gaila worked in and into a side corridor sometime that evening. "I have no idea what's going on! He kept trying to get people to leave the bridge so he could talk to me alone! I think!"

"Okay, calm down," said Gaila soothingly, her black eyes wide and worried. She put her warm hands on Nyota's arms, rubbing them kindly. "Nyota, that's probably not what it is."

"I think it is! I don't like him! What am I going to say when he finally gets me alone and confesses his undying love for me?" Nyota tugged madly at her hair. This was ridiculous. She hadn't been this worked up about somebody liking her since fourth grade, when Hao Tsing had thrown his peanut butter and jelly sandwich at her during recess.

"I seriously doubt that's going to happen—him and Hikaru—" Gaila tried.

"He left my note _in my room_," Nyota said dangerously. "I found it when I was changing for delta shift. On my nightstand!"

"Is that creepy?" Gaila's eyes went wide.

Nyota spluttered a bit. "Yes! Just because you're an Orion doesn't mean you don't know about personal space! Of course it's creepy!"

Gaila was confused. "But you let Bones stay in your room that one time, without you, when he accidentally insulted the warp drive in front of Scotty and was afraid for his life. And Janice always goes in there to steal your eyeliner."

Nyota stared. "Do you think it's Bones or Janice?"

"That's not really what I'm saying—"

"And look, it's Arabic this time—'Ana uhib'buki.' The USSR totally invaded Afghanistan in the 1980s. _It's Pavel_."

"Okay, you're becoming paranoid," said Gaila patiently.

"I have to know who it is!" cried Nyota.

Gaila sighed. "I'll ask around, okay? I'll try to see who it is." She took Nyota's shoulders. "Don't worry about this."

"Okay," said Nyota, trying to breathe. "Okay."

x

_February 7th_

Nyota lifted the paper off of her console and unfolded it with shaking fingers. The message read, "Ya tebya lyublyu." Oh my God, Nyota thought hysterically._ Russian_.

She automatically looked up at Pavel and realized that they were the only two people on the bridge.

He had been staring right at her. He got up. Nyota clutched at her heart. He walked over to her. She stared into his sky blue eyes. His mouth was curved in a kind smile. He was her friend. Her friend. Friend friend friend. This was her mantra.

"Nyota," said Pavel gently. "I haf a question."

"Y-yes?" said Nyota, backing up so far that her spine creaked against her console.

"For Valentine's Day—" Pavel paused, blushing. Nyota felt her stomach try to heave itself out of her throat. "—see, I am making something for Hikaru, and I would like your help—"

"Wait," said Nyota blankly, "what?"

"For Hikaru," Pavel repeated, eyes wide. "I like him. I thought you knew, Nyota."

By the time Pavel left, Nyota still hadn't recovered.

x

_February 8th_

"Now," sighed Nyota, "I'm just confused." She was lounging across Gaila's bed, flipping through the notes she's gotten in the past eight days. She had lost all of her previous manic energy now that one of her suspects had been eliminated.

"What's today's language?" Gaila was in a chair at the end of the bed, painting her nails with an intent expression on her face.

"Latin," said Nyota. "'Ego te amo.' Now I think it might be Bones."

"Oh, fuck, hand me a tissue, quick." Gaila flailed her hand and Nyota passed her one. Gaila sopped up the extra polish that had dripped over her cuticle, muttering something obscene in Orion. "Why do you think it's Bones?" she said after the crisis had been averted.

Nyota flailed mentally. "Because… medical terminology employs a lot of Latin?"

Gaila rolled her eyes and went back to her nails.

"I'm not insane," Nyota muttered into a pillow.

"Yes, dear," said Gaila forbearingly.

x

_February 9th_

Janice speaks Czech, Nyota thought frantically as her eyes zipped across the latest contribution. "Miluji te," whoever it was had written.

Nyota had found this note taped to the underside of the turbolift controls and was reading it in the turbolift. The door opened and expelled her onto the bridge, where she saw Janice handing a Jim a PADD for him to sign. She crept over to her console as Jim scribbled what passed as his signature on the order and turned to Spock. Janice took the PADD, checked the signature, closed the file, and turned straight to Nyota.

"Good morning, Nyota," said Janice swimmingly. Her hair was gigantic, as usual, its big blonde beehive heights scraping the bottom of Lieutenant Irl'ur'kraz's chin as he moved delicately past her. (Irl'ur'kraz was a Haffan, and Haffans were _enormous_.)

Then Janice left without another word.

Like I wasn't confused enough already, Nyota thought sadly.

x

_February 10th_

Nyota was really starting to think it was Bones. Bones matched most of the languages on the notes. He was American, thus the English; he was a doctor, thus the Latin; he was learned, thus the Greek; and since he was American, he was descended from any number of Terran ethnic groups. When she ran a genetic check on him, she discovered that he had English, Welsh, French, Czech, German, Russian, Spanish, and Ukranian roots, and even a Shona ancestor quite far back. Deeply suspicious.

Even worse, Nyota found that day's love note in her vitamin jar, curled around her iron supplement. It was in Hindi ("Main tumse pyar karta hun"), but still.

So Nyota marched down to sickbay, determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Lieutenant Uhura," said Bones with surprising mildness as Nyota marched into his office. "What can I do for you?"

"I have a question—" said Nyota strongly, but Bones's intercom buzzed.

"Yes?" he said into it. "I'll be right there, Nurse Chapel. Excuse me, Lieutenant. Evidently Ensign Bayern's fingers have started fallin' off again." Bones heaved a sigh, got out of his chair, and disappeared into the infirmary.

He took quite some time. Nyota followed him after ten minutes of standing around, nervous and useless. She walked quietly over to the infirmary and waved at Ensign Bayern, who waved back, his fingers attached by tenuous threads. Nyota shuddered and crept to the dispensary, where she saw the back of Bones's head. He was replacing a bottle of medicine and his hand-held dermal regenrator.

Then Nyota realized that Christine Chapel was there too, and then she saw Christine run a long-fingered hand down Bones's arm. Bones straightened up, smiling the brightest, most sincere smile Nyota had ever seen on the doctor's face, and squeezed Christine's hand.

Christine kissed Bones on the cheek and looked like she wanted to kiss him on the lips, but pulled away, and went back to her inventory. Bones started out of the dispensary then looked back at Christine, bent over the shelves, and smiled that smile again.

When he got back to his office, Nyota was near the door. "Never mind," Nyota said to Bones. "I'll see you around, Doctor."

"Sure thing, Lieutenant," said Bones, puzzled, and it sounded like he wanted to ask Nyota why she had come, but Nyota had already left.

x

_February 11th_

It wasn't Janice, Nyota decided. Janice didn't act as if she cared what Nyota thought about her. She now suspected, more than anybody, Jim, who had been on cloud nine in the past month. Perhaps it was true love.

Jim was annoying as a general rule, but now that he was happy twenty-four-seven, he was even more frustrating to be around. He practically bounced into his chair every morning and was sometimes on the bridge _early_, which was unheard of in the past. Spock had actually started sighing at him in irritation. Aloud.

And then Spock, quite unexpectedly, asked to speak to Nyota in private.

It was late afternoon. Nyota, watching Spock's still face, panicked for a moment, then forced herself to calm down and follow Spock into Jim's ready room off the bridge.

Spock clasped his hands in front of his stomach and said, "When we parted ways a year ago—"

"You're not still in love with me, are you?" said Nyota suspiciously, crossing her arms. She had always preferred a blunt approach with Spock, and it tended to work.

Spock blinked innocently at her. "Nyota," he said kindly. "I _was_ very much in love with you. But my feelings have dissipated."

"Good," said Nyota, satisfied. "Mine too." She felt content, then alarmed. "Wait, what did you want to say to me, then?"

"I wanted to tell you in person that I have entered into another relationship," said Spock, peering closely at his hands. Nyota thought she saw a faint green blush settle over Spock's cheeks.

Nyota had no idea what to say. "Okay… good for you."

"Thank you."

Spock twiddled at his thumbs. Nyota hummed a bit.

"Spock. Who is it?" she asked finally.

Spock's blush deepened. "Jim," he said softly.

Nyota tried not to fall over. "What? What did you just say? What?"

"Jim," said Spock, a little more loudly. He finally looked up, meeting her eyes. "I have been in love with him for some time."

"Oh my God," said Nyota, convinced that this was what a seizure was like. "Oh my God."

"We realized our attraction was mutual a month ago. Ever since, I have spent every night—"

Nyota held up her hand. "I swear to Zephram Cochrane that if you don't shut up right now, I am going to throw you off the _Enterprise_. Okay?"

Spock's lips went thin. He blinked solemnly at her.

"Okay," said Nyota, holding her head, "I'm just going to… to go, now. Thanks… for telling me."

"You are welcome, Nyota."

Shuddering, Nyota turned towards the door. "Wait," Spock said. She looked back. He was holding a piece of paper out to her. "I was told to give this to you," said Spock.

Nyota took the paper slowly and unfolded it. Its contents read, "Táim I' ngrá leat."

"Where did you get this?" Nyota said, translating the Irish automatically.

The corners of Spock's lips turned up slightly. "I am afraid that I am not allowed to say," he said.

x

_February 12th_

That morning, Nyota saw Dr. M'Benga kiss McKenna's hand. She hadn't suspected him particularly strongly, but there was another down.

Janice was all she had left. She watched her throughout the day, but Janice didn't act suspiciously, or glance her way. And Nyota never got a note.

Or at least not until she was laying in bed, trying to read a novel on her PADD and instead worrying about how she hadn't gotten a note and also worrying about how she was worrying about how she hadn't gotten a note. And then there was a chime, and she nearly fell off the bed, it was so unexpected.

Janice came in.

"Hey, Nyota," she said, smiling. Without any preamble, she handed Nyota a piece of paper. Nyota took it slowly, staring at Janice. She unfolded it and glanced down: "Dustet daaram," it read: Persian.

"Have a good Valentine's Day. And no, I'm not telling you who it's from," Janice said, grinning cheekily, and went to the door. Nyota jumped when she saw Irl'ur'kraz waiting for Janice outside. He kissed her on the cheek and she smiled.

Nyota gave up, took a sleeping pill, and barely woke up in time for her shift the next morning.

x

_February 13th_

When she did wake up, she sneezed, because there was a piece of paper tickling her nose.

It fluttered in the air in front of her. Eyes crossed, Nyota caught it and unfolded it.

She felt something melt in her heart as she read, "Nakupenda."

_Nakupenda_ was Swahili, her native language, and when she said it aloud, she heard rainfall on the roof of her mother's big house in Dar es Salaam, and smelled Bora, the dog she'd had as a child, earthy and rank after hiding from her in the little forest in their backyard.

She breathed in and out a few times, enfolded in the mattress, in the dark, and feeling more alive in the stale interior of the ship than she ever had.

Then she got up and got dressed and went to work.

She realized that she had run out of options. Nyota stared around the bridge, trying to see who she had missed. Hikaru and Pavel just missed each other's glances. Kirk and Spock were bickering, and looked like they'd never had more fun. Bones stayed holed up in the infirmary with Christine. Janice trailed Irl'ur'kraz around like a schoolgirl. She surveyed Scotty, who was eating a sandwich with a really obscene expression on his face. She hadn't considered Scotty until now—but it only took her a second to discount him. He looked much too happy with his food.

Who had she forgotten? 

She made excuses, that day, to travel all around the _Enterprise_, watching people and trying to see if they were watching her. She looked at Tellarites and New Yorkers, Indians and Romulans, and saw nobody, just figures part of a crowd, just a forest of trees. She began to feel lost, like a little boat buffeted at sea between tall waves. The ship grew cavernous, and she shrank, until she was nearly nothing. Who was seeking her out, in all this? Where was her home berth? She wondered and wandered.

And then she stumbled into a little room off the hall where they kept the main computer body, and she saw a red-haired woman leaning over a panel. Its cool glow lit her apple-colored face. She whispered to herself as she typed, and pushed some buttons, and tucked her hair behind her ear, pursing her jeweled lips.

Nyota's soul came back to itself. She settled in, watching Gaila, and felt better. This was perfect—just standing in the door, watching Gaila move confidently around the warm room, ministering to the computer's every whim. This was familiar. This was her port of call.

x

_February 14th_

Despite Spock's best efforts to the contrary, the _Enterprise_ was pink.

Jim must have had something to do with it because he looked entirely too pleased with himself. Spock, though, was twitching a bit, and wouldn't talk to anybody but his science officers, and only the ones who looked as unhappy as he did. Pavel and Hikaru kept blowing heart-shaped confetti off of their consoles. And Scotty was eating a sandwich made from pink bread.

Nyota was just as enthusiastic about Valentine's Day as the rest of the crew, but this was a bit much, especially when Janice tried to get her to wear wings. Bones, evidently agreeing with Spock for once in his life, refused point-blank to leave sickbay, and sent Christine whenever Jim needed medical counsel.

All day, Nyota watched stolen kisses and secret touches, and the whisper of fiery gazes. A casual observer would not have noticed what she did.

Gaila wasn't at dinner.

Nyota stared around the cafeteria as she entered. She noticed, disconcertingly that quite a lot of people were looking right back at her. She blinked at them, and they looked away hastily.

She'd just started towards the replicators when she heard quick footfalls behind her. A strong hand grasped her lower arm and she half-turned before it started to drag her away. She considered protesting, but the hand holding her was green.

Gaila pulled her out of the caf and down a few corridors until they were deep in the ship, and nobody was walking by.

Gaila looked more nervous than Nyota had ever seen her. She was shaking as she extracted a folded piece of creamy paper from her pocket and handed it to Nyota.

Nyota opened the paper.

It was larger than the others, and there were fifteen lines—fourteen together, and a fifteenth one apart. Each line was in a different language—the first was English, and it read:

_When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,_

The second line was Greek, the third Chinese, the fourth Shona, and so on. Nyota translated the languages automatically, reading:

_I all alone beweep my outcast state_

_And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries_

_And look upon myself and curse my fate,_

_Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,_

_Featured like him, like him with friends posess'd,_

_Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,_

_With what I most enjoy contented least;_

_Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,_

_Haply I think on thee, and then my state,_

_Like to the lark at break of day arising_

_From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;_

_For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings_

_That then I scorn to change my state with kings._

The final line was written in Orion, as was the phrase beneath it: "Jaora ka'lu thea," or, "I love you."

When Nyota looked up, Gaila was looking down, a fine vermillion blush dusting her cheeks. Nyota reached forwards, pushing back Gaila's curtain of spiraling hair with one hand, and kissed Gaila's forehead gently.

"I hoped it was you," Nyota said.

Gaila looked up, like she couldn't believe it.

"Nakupenda," she said to Gaila, smiling. "Nakupenda."

Gaila threw back her head and laughed. "Jaora ka'lu thea, ya-ta!" she cried, throwing her arms around Nyota's neck. "Ya-ta." _You too_. She bent her forehead to touch Nyota's.

"Wewe pia," said Nyota, hugging Gaila tightly. _You too._

When they parted, Gaila said, "I can recite some more sonnets, if you liked that one!"

"Oh, Gaila, you know Shakespeare is best read in the original Klingon," Nyota said absently, running her fingertips down the side of Gaila's neck.

"I had to watch a lot of romantic comedies to figure out what this Saint Valentine's Day thing is," said Gaila, twirling a bit of Nyota's hair. "On Orion, we just kidnap our mates. You Terrans are very restrained. All this wooing with _Theobroma cacao_ and burning things."

"You mean, chocolate and candles?"

"Yes, whatever," said Gaila carelessly. "Want to make out?"

"I like you," said Nyota sincerely.

"Awesome!" said Gaila, and kissed her.


End file.
